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Promotion raises awareness about Maine potatoes

Mascots representing Maine's agricultural industries such as dairy and potatoes were on hand at one of the state's Wal-Mart locations in May during the "Get Real Get Maine!" promotion. The campaign urged consumers to buy locally produced perishables.

(June 23, PACKER WEB EXCLUSIVE) In a promotion celebrating the ending of Maineâs white potato season, grower-shippers, the Maine Potato Board and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. participated in a promotion that encouraged Maineâs shoppers to âGet Real Get Maine!â and buy local or regionally-grown produce.

Ken Gray, vice president of sales and marketing for Bushwick Potato Co. Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y., which markets the stateâs potatoes, said the promotion, which kicked off May 21 in a Waterville, Maine, Wal-Mart Super Center, ran in late May and created a lot of excitement about Maineâs potatoes. The event, he said, also raised consumer awareness of regional produce through all of Wal-Martâs Maine stores.

âIt was good to have the commissioner of agriculture at the store to get consumers to understand that there are lots of fresh and high quality produce in their backyard,â Gray said. âThe event also helped children learn more about the benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables.â

While shipments of Maineâs white potatoes ended in early June, Gray said the stateâs russets are expected to ship through early July.

Guerrette Farms, a Caribou, Maine, grower-shipper, worked with Bushwick on the promotion.

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About the Author:

Doug Ohlemeier

Doug Ohlemeier, who has written for The Packer since 2001, serves as eastern editor, a position he has held since August 2006. He started at The Packer as a staff writer after working for nearly a decade in commodity promotion at the Kansas Wheat Commission, where he was a marketing specialist.
Doug worked in radio and television news writing, producing and reporting for seven years in Texas, Missouri and Nebraska.
He graduated from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, in 1984, with a bachelor of science degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in history. He earned a master’s in corporate communications from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, in 1991. In college, he served as a news editor of the daily O’Collegian newspaper and interned in radio and television news departments.